African energy exploration company Rhino Resources discovers light oil offshore Namibia

Namibia got a boost Thursday after Rhino Resources found "high-quality" light oil at its latest well. U.S. oil company Chevron also announced that it is considering a drilling campaign for 2026 or 2027.

The southern African nation, a global hotspot for exploration, aims to produce its oil by the end of the decade, following a series of recent discoveries by Shell, TotalEnergies, and Galp Energia.

In a press release, Travis Smithard CEO of Rhino said that the results "have proven to exist a high-quality light oil bearing reserve, with no observed contact of water."

The African energy explorer Rhino Resource found light oil in Capricornus 1X, its second successful exploration, which was drilled off the coast of Namibia in the prolific Orange Basin.

Cape Town-based company operates Petroleum Exploration License 85 with Azule Energy a joint venture between BP and Eni, national oil company Namcor, and Korres Investments.

Rhino Resources reported that the well had 38 metres of pay, with the reservoir displaying good petrophysical characteristics and no water contact.

It said that the well, which had successfully completed a test of production across the reservoir of light oil, would be temporarily plugged up and abandoned. This was the latest success of exploration in one of the most exciting frontiers of exploration.

Rhino Resources, along with its partners, will use post-drilling analysis to determine their strategy for the entire block. This was announced after the Sagittarius 1X well drilled by the company in February intersected an hydrocarbon reservoir.

TotalEnergies, the French oil major, expects to make a final decision about its Venus discovery next year. The project will involve a moored FPSO (floating production storage and offloading ship) that is likely to produce the first oil in the country amid the high gas-to oil challenges.

ExxonMobil is also conducting detailed studies to identify new drilling sites offshore Namibia, said the Namibian petroleum commissioner at a Namibian Energy Conference in Windhoek.

Maggy Shino, the commissioner, told delegates that they had only just begun to scratch the surface of the problem. (Reporting and editing by Bernadette, Baum, Heavens and David Evans.)

(source: Reuters)